A notorious gas guzzler who asked a lock keeper to ‘rub suncream’ on his back while ‘staring at her breasts’ has been given a year-long ban from the riverside lock.
Robert Stephens, 31, was handed a 12-month exclusion order from Osney Lock in Oxford after he made ‘sexualised comments’ towards worker Shirley Williams.
With a history of drinking and sniffing petrol, Stephens previously hit national headlines for his fuel-based antics which included propositioning schoolgirls and threatening to stab his sister.
He has 44 convictions and 107 offences.
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Appearing in a blue t-shirt at Oxford Magistrates' Court on July 6, he pleaded guilty to making sexualised comments and acting in a sexual manner towards Ms Williams between June 22 and June 25.
Jay Singh, prosecuting, said that Ms Williams had asked Stephens to dismount from his bicycle at the riverside lock at around 3pm on June 23.
“He got off and said, ‘I like what I see’ and asked her to rub suncream on his back while staring at her breasts,” said Ms Singh.
“She told him to leave. She told him to go but he continued to stare at her breasts and continued the conversation.”
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The following morning, Stephens returned to the lock and spoke to Ms Williams again.
“He said, ‘I was hoping to see you in your bikini. I still need someone to rub suncream on me. I like what I see’, said Ms Singh.
Ms Williams reportedly felt ‘uncomfortable’ during the interaction and was ‘now more aware of her personal safety.’
A statement from Stephens which was read out in court said: “I accept that I spoke to the victim and complimented her on her looks, and I said as a joke that I needed suncream put on my back because I was sunburned.
“The next day I rode back to the lock again as it's on my way into town and in an attempt to be friendly I said, ‘I thought you would be wearing a bikini.’
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“That’s when she said ‘go away. I’m too old for you’. I took it as banter.
“If she feels uncomfortable, I would make sure to take a different route to go into town.”
Laurence Wilson, mitigating, said: “You have a young man who rides his bike, and he sees a woman he finds attractive and tries to chat her up.”
She added: “It’s very difficult for young men to approach women if on the second attempt they get arrested."
As well as the exclusion order, Stephens, of Abingdon Road, was handed a 12-month community order and asked to pay £154 in court costs.
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